Chloe Zhao: ‘Watching the rodeo scenes, I would be having a special heart attack behind the camera’.
Photograph: Newscom/Alamy

Born in Beijing in 1982, educated in England and New York, and now living in California, Chloé Zhao is the director of two striking films set in the American midwest. Her 2015 debut, Songs My Brothers Taught Me, was shot among the Lakota Sioux tribe in a remote reservation in South Dakota. Zhao’s second film, The Rider, returns there to tell the story of a real-life young cowboy called Brady Jandreau, who is getting back on his feet after a serious rodeo accident. The film won the top prize at the directors’ fortnight at Cannes.

How did The Rider come about?After my first film, I went back to visit the Pine Ridge reservation a few times. When I saw Brady, who was working there, I just thought, wow he has a presence, I think the camera is really going to love his face. And then I saw him training horses and I knew I had to make a film with him.

Was this before he injured himself in real life?Yes. We tried to find different types of story for him but nothing really worked. Then he got injured [in April 2016] and that became the story.

The boundary between fact and fiction in the film is very thin – many of the actors are playing versions of themselves, including Brady’s own father and sister. Why did you go down that route?Every decision made was to match Brady’s authenticity, which is so deep and impossible to replace. But also, if I’m completely honest, I had no money to make this film – just what was left in my bank account – so there was no way I could have even paid for a plane ticket for anyone to fly in. Not that I wanted to. Of course there were a lot of struggles that I don’t ever want to deal with again, but creatively I find a lot of power in limitations.

These young guys, they have YouTube channels, they’re trying to figure out what it means to be a modern-day cowboy

Watching the rodeo scenes, I felt genuinely worried for the actors’ safety. What was it like for you?At first I was really, “Ahaaaaa my god!” I would be having a special heart attack behind the camera. But then you realise this is happening every day, it’s like driving to the store.

US Vogue ran a headline saying you’d reinvented the western. How did you feel about that?I’m flattered, but I think people have been reinventing westerns for a long time. In fact I hadn’t really watched a lot of westerns, though my cinematographer grew up with them and there’s definitely a lot of tribute to that on screen. If you were going to say anything, I think Brady and these young cowboys are the ones reinventing the cowboy legacy.

In what way?The cattle industry is now completely monopolised by the big meat industry, which is horrible, and so the small ranches are disappearing. If you raise your cattle in a factory lot, why would you need cowboys? These young guys, they’re on Facebook, they have YouTube channels, they’re listening to hip-hop – they’re trying to figure out what it means to be a modern-day cowboy. So there’s a new identity emerging, and I think by capturing that, in a weird way The Rider is reinventing the western – and it’s not because of me.

Politics isn’t really mentioned in the film, but you’re looking at a part of America that voted Trump and felt left out of the political system. Was that part of the appeal for you – to show what has been overlooked by the American media?As someone who really loves this country, I find it very sad how divided the media has made us. I’m obviously a liberal, but if you were to ask me, having been in America since 1999, who were the 10 kindest, nicest people I’ve met, I would say more than half of them are from Trump states. It wasn’t a decision while making the film, but I think subconsciously the team and I wanted to connect with people whose lives are so different from ours. When we are sitting there together while the world is being pulled apart, it makes me feel like it’s not doomsday, like there is hope. We’re not going to kill each other, like the media say we are.

What’s the reaction to the film been?My favourite thing about making this film has been playing it to audiences in very liberal placesand getting people to feel so connected and compassionate towards Brady when they met him. So many things are stacked up against us: the red [Republican] state thing, the animal rights thing with the rodeo. But the majority of the people are able to see past that and relate to Brady.

Have you become more of an outdoors person since making these films?I like to think I’m an outdoors person. I am trying to go hiking more. And my boyfriend and I have built a van that we can live in – I spend a lot of time looking into alternative living.

Are you aware of the #vanlife trend on Instagram?Yes, but our van isn’t as glamorous, and I don’t have an Instagram account! But I lived in the van for a whole month when I was doing research for the movie I’m making now.

What’s the new film?It’s a road movie that takes place all over the western US. It’s not a big movie but it’s a unique beast, bringing together elements that don’t usually come together. It’s a challenge but I think it could be really interesting.

Do you feel at home in America?Yeah, America is home, and China is also home, because I’ve got family there and that’s where I was born. I’m really looking forward to the day when I can have dual citizenship, because China doesn’t allow that right now. I can’t wait for that day when I can be a citizen of both of my homes.